Hikaru Utada, also known by the mononym Utada, is an American and Japanese singer, songwriter and producer. Utada is one of the most influential, bestselling musical artists in Japan.
Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the live action film adaptations of Nana. She has sold over 10 million records in Japan.
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
"Endless Love" is a song written by Lionel Richie and originally recorded as a duet between Richie and singer/actress Diana Ross. In this ballad, the singers declare their "endless love" for one another. It was covered by Luther Vandross with R&B-pop singer Mariah Carey, and also by country music singer Shania Twain. Richie's friend Kenny Rogers also recorded the song. Billboard has named the original version as the greatest song duet of all time.
Yui, stylized as YUI or yui, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In her solo career, she sold more than 5 million physical copies in Japan. She is popular in Japan and in surrounding countries, ranking number one in 2011 Count Down TV "Dearest Female Artist" and Music Station "Artist You Most Want to Marry" polls, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong's "Most Popular Japanese Artist".
Yuna Ito is an American-born former pop singer and actress who was active in Japan.
Ayaka Iida, known simply by the mononym Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009.
"Endless Story" is the debut single by Japanese singer Yuna Ito, released under the name Reira starring Yuna Ito, by Sony Japan on September 7, 2005. "Endless Story" was written by Dawn Thomas with Japanese lyrics by ATS and was used in the film Nana (2005) in which Ito played the character Reira Serizawa. The song samples Dawn Thomas's "If I'm Not in Love" (1993) which was also covered by Faith Hill in 1999.
"Precious" is the third single by Yuna Ito. It is the theme song to the movie Limit of Love: Umizaru and was released on May 3, 2006. Both "I'm Free" and "Secrets" are more up-beat songs than "Precious".
Blue Blood is the second studio album by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, then known as simply X. It was released on April 21, 1989, by CBS/Sony as the band's major label debut. Blue Blood sold more than 700,000 copies, reached number 6 on the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for more than 100 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top five on the chart. In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked Blue Blood number 15 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".
"Stuck on You" is Yuna Ito's fourth single since her debut. This is her first single since her largely successful May 2006 single "Precious" and her first single in which the main track is not a ballad.
"Glamorous Sky" is Mika Nakashima's 16th single overall, her 1st under the name Nana starring Mika Nakashima, and the second most successful single in her career after "Stars". It is her first rock song and it was used as one of the image songs for the film Nana. Hyde of L'Arc-en-Ciel composed "Glamorous Sky". The second and third B-sides, "Blood" and "Isolation" were used as CM songs for Kate cosmetics. Mika Nakashima graces the cover of the single as Nana Osaki.
"Truth" is Yuna Ito's 6th single and last of 2006. This is her second single to be a part of the Nana franchise, the first being "Endless Story".
The discography of Japanese-American musician Yuna Ito consists of three studio albums, one compilation album and nineteen singles. Her debut album, Heart, was released in 2007 after six singles, including one of the two theme songs for the film Nana, "Endless Story" (2005), which also featured Ito in her acting debut, as well as "Precious" (2006), the theme song of the film Limit of Love: Umizaru. Both of these songs were very commercially successful, becoming certified by the RIAJ.
Nana (ナナ) is a 2005 Japanese drama film directed by Kentarō Ōtani. Based on the manga of the same name by Ai Yazawa, the film stars Mika Nakashima as Nana Osaki and Aoi Miyazaki as Nana "Hachi" Komatsu. The film was released on September 3, 2005.
Dream is American pop singer Yuna Ito's third Japanese studio album. The album was released on May 27, 2009, under her label Studioseven Recordings. The album was released in two formats: CD-only and a limited CD+DVD version that contains four music videos and the making of the video. The motto of the album is: "If you can dream it, you can do it".
"Ashita no Kioku/Crazy Moon " is a single release by Japanese boy band Arashi. "Ashita no Kioku" was used as the theme song for the drama The Quiz Show 2 starring Arashi member Sho Sakurai, and "Crazy Moon " was used as the theme song for Kose's Esprique Precious cosmetics line commercial. The single was released in three editions: a regular edition containing a bonus track and instrumental versions of all the songs released in the single, and two limited edition both containing a DVD with a music video of one of the A-side tracks.
"You Were..." is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her tenth studio album, Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010). It was written by Hamasaki with production being done by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. The song premiered on December 29, 2009 as the album's second a-side single with the album track, "Ballad". Four formats were released for the single; a CD format, a CD and DVD bundle, a limited edition box set, and a digital download. The first three artworks feature Hamasaki laying in snow, whilst the limited edition box set has a long-shot of Hamasaki in a dress.
Rock 'n' Roll Circus is the eleventh studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on April 14, 2010, by Avex Trax. It was also released just a little over a year after her 2009 album, Next Level. Rock 'n' Roll Circus marks Hamasaki's eleventh consecutive album to be fully produced by Japanese producer and manager Max Matsuura, while she contributes to the album as the lead vocalist, background vocalist, and songwriter to all songs. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English, Rock 'n' Roll Circus is a rock album with numerous musical elements such as electropop, J-pop, rock, pop ballad, and dance music.
Ayumi Hamasaki A 50 Singles: Live Selection is 27th live DVD by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on April 20, 2011. It is the compilation of her 50 best live performances selected from each of her singles, from her 1st single, Poker Face, to her 50th single, L. It was released on the same day with Ayumi Hamasaki Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour Final: 7 Days Special. It was originally scheduled to be released at March 30, but was pushed back till April 20 due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It charted strongly at #2 while Ayumi Hamasaki Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour Final: 7 Days Special charted at #1, making her the first artist to hold #1 and #2 positions on the Oricon DVD Weekly Chart. The sales of this 2 DVD make her the female artist with the highest DVD sales of 2,313,000 units sold, behind Arashi. As her song, Kanariya, had not been performed live before, it was replaced as a video clip.
